


The truth about mermaids

by SharpestRose



Series: Gravity and Levity [2]
Category: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-01
Updated: 2011-07-01
Packaged: 2017-10-20 22:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/217512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharpestRose/pseuds/SharpestRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A quasi-semi-somewhat sequel to 'gravity and levity', though not reliant on that story to make sense. Banter, banter, and two very exasperated Turners.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The truth about mermaids

The Turner homestead always felt like Will had brought the swelter of the forge home with him. The windows of the back rooms overlooked the shore and sea, as framed by the lazy branches of heat-limp trees. They had decided not to keep servants, as Elizabeth found she preferred to nick her fingers on the knifeblade as she chopped fruit and to wear her arms out stirring washing coppers to simply sitting about looking ornamental.

There were two children now, the elder a toddling two-year-old girl named Sarah-Anne and the younger a boy of two months. James hadn't seen this second child as yet, his excuses having run the full range of possible reasons why he couldn't visit. In truth, he was afraid to come back, to walk down the cobbled road lined with houses like the Turners' own and to bring his knuckles to the front door. They had not parted well the last time he came calling, and it hurt something deep within him to think that the slight might somehow have been too great to repair.

On that occasion, things began well enough. After a simple but enjoyable meal Will had gone to crouch on the floor with Sarah-Anne and Elizabeth cleared the plates away - James asked her and asked her again to allow him to do this small task, but she would have none of it. Impending motherhood and family life suited her better than had seemed likely, and she was in good spirits.

"James," she'd said. "If this child is a boy, Will and I would like to -"

Before Elizabeth could finish, James shook his head. "I thank you for the honour, but I must decline. Don't name the child for me, Elizabeth."

Her gaze went shuttered, her smile shifting to the haughty coolness she'd made an art. "Fine." Putting the plates down on the table with a clatter, she turned away. "We'll name him _Jack_ , then."

Will had looked over, concerned at the commotion, and glared at James. Ever the faithful puppy, that one. The house had seemed suddenly confining rather than cosy, and James had taken his leave as quickly as possible.

But Elizabeth had never harboured grudges, her anger was as hot and brief as the bay storms. Gathering his courage, James knocked.

"You two stay and finish that ridiculous card game, I'll see who it is," Elizabeth's voice called back towards the inner rooms of the house as she approached the door. James felt doubly hesitant, not wanting to intrude if the young family was entertaining another caller.

It was almost funny, of all the places he'd expected to find awkward in his life he'd never listed 'a narrow street in Port Royal' as a potential candidate. In the decade since the port had nominally become his home, the typical house in the area had changed from board-and-wattle huts to these unpretentious and sturdy two-story affairs.

He couldn't help but wonder, somewhat sardonically, how long it would be before the novelty of the simple life wore off for Elizabeth. She would always be happy enough, with her little family, but James suspected that her contentment would not be so longlived.

She looked content enough, however, as she pulled the door open.

"James!" Her voice was merry and relieved, her cheeks coloured to a high blush from laughter. "I thought you might have decided you didn't like us anymore, after last time!"

He managed a smile back. "Hello, Elizabeth. May I come in?"

"Yes, of... uh, no." Elizabeth stepped outside suddenly, forcing James to stumble back off the front step and onto the road, and closed the door with a snap. "It's terribly untidy, you see, and I really couldn't entertain anyone with the rooms in such a state..."

James' small smile grew wider, despite himself. Her hands were holding the handle behind her back, as if she feared he'd push past her and force the door open. "Surely we're beyond such things, Elizabeth. That is, if we truly are past the misunderstanding of my last visit?"

"Oh," Elizabeth waved one hand as if to clear the past aside. "That doesn't matter. But no, no, the house isn't fit to be seen by anyone. Dreadfully sorry, lovely to see you, must catch up soon."

Her smile was really quite desperately frantic by this stage. James suspected it would be impolite to laugh.

"So your insistence on my departure doesn't have anything to do with the fact that, perhaps, a mutual acquaintance of ours has come to meet his namesake?"

"We named the lad William, actually. Liam for short, otherwise it would be confusing."

"There was a time, Elizabeth, when you would avoid answering my questions by throwing yourself off parapets. Are we now to be reduced to simple conversational misdirection?"

"Who's at the door, love?" an extremely familiar voice called. "Not selling something, are they? Tell 'em we're all stocked up. Unless it's drinkable, of course. Can't believe you two don't keep rum in the house."

Wincing, Elizabeth redoubled her hold on the handle of the front door. "I fear I must insist on postponing your visit to a later date. As you can hear, Will's... maiden great-aunt has recently arrived from England for a visit."

"Ah, so that was her, was it?"

"Yes, yes, that was her." Elizabeth nodded. "Wanted to see the children, you see."

"Mr Turner's great aunt."

"Yes."

"Looking for rum at two o'clock in the afternoon."

Elizabeth nodded, gracing him with another strained smile. "Yes?"

"Elizabeth?" Will's voice came through the door, the handle rattling as he tried to open it. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" she said back in an overly cheerful voice. "Just, er, just explaining to James that we can't possibly entertain now, as your great aunt's here visiting."

"Oh." Will's voice, as usual, took a few seconds before expressing comprehension. "Oh, yes, my great aunt. Lots of children with her, very hectic, no room for anyone else, must see you some other time, Admiral."

"Ah, well, I'll come back some other time then..." James nodded to Elizabeth with a smile. She looked very, very relieved. "... When you're not having a maiden aunt and her children to stay."

The relief fell away from Elizabeth's face like water on waxed cloth.

"Norrington, you bastard." The bedroom window on the second story was opened wide with a protesting squeak, Jack Sparrow's head becoming visible a moment later. "Stop tormenting poor Elizabeth and hurry up with the promising not to hang me so's she can come back in. The baby's starting to smell like he needs his mum."

"What makes you think I'd make such a promise, Sparrow?" replied James. "Especially after such an insulting greeting?"

Jack shrugged. "Intuition? You'd have me in irons by now if you had a mind to do it at all."

"Perceptive. All right," James faced Elizabeth and tried to look serious. "I promise no men currently hanging halfway out your bedroom window will be arrested during my afternoon social call, Mrs Turner."

She did not look nearly so amused as James felt or Jack looked. "I've a mind to throttle you both, hanging be damned." She pushed the door open, almost slamming Will into the wall in the process, and went to attend to her son. "Bloody _men_ ," the mutter drifted back in her wake.

"Afternoon, Mr Turner," James said, helping Will regain his footing. "I trust you're well?"

Will nodded, coughing as he got his breath back. Jack walked - no, he sauntered, there was no other word for it really - down the narrow stairs and into view, clapping Will on the back in an entirely unhelpful fashion.

"Elizabeth knock the wind out of you, did she? Good strong woman. No doubt she's got a good arm for throwing crockery too. Wives are fond of that."

"You've been married, Sparrow?" James asked with a smirk.

"Only a little," Jack answered. "How's our fine and fancy Commodore been, then?"

"It's Admiral now, I'll have you know." James took his hat off, noting that Will had caught his breath and gone off to find Elizabeth and the baby.

"Yeah, heard about that," Jack nodded, leaning against the end of the banister. "Wanted to send my congratulations, but thought there was probably some law against it."

"I've never known you to be hindered by such considerations before, Jack."

Shrugging, Jack motioned for them both to venture further into the house. "Been busy, mate. Sure you can sympathise, there's trouble coming and there has been for a while. We'll see some violence and mayhem, with any luck."

James smiled, disbelieving. "You're all talk."

"Nah," Jack said with a grin. "Some of me's wriggle."

The drawing room was, just as Elizabeth had warned, a complete disaster. The small table, usually decorated with a pretty cotton cloth, was strewn with battered playing cards and the stems and cores of apples. A cup-and-ball toy, brightly painted in red and blue, was tangled around the leg of one of the chairs, and the rest of the floor was decorated with marbles and scraps of paper.

"Hullo!" a small dark figure shouted, launching itself at James' ankles. Will, who was attempting to contain the chaos by sweeping the remnants of the card game into a bucket and setting it aside, made a small scolding noise.

"Sarah, you're all sticky. Don't ruin Admiral Norrington's stockings."

"It's quite all right," James said, bending to scoop the little girl into his arms. "Dear me, you are sticky, your father's right."

Sarah-Anne smiled, patting him very deliberately on the shoulders and leaving behind small gluey handprints. Her brown eyes crinkled up with delight as James pretended to be horrified at the marks.

"What's this then?" he said, lifting a lock of the girl's dark hair to inspect the three small wooden beads threaded in a line. Jack, now lounging in one of the chairs with his head tipped back, made a wide gesture of innocence.

"Don't look at me, I swear she put them in all on her own. You've a pirate's grandchild there, Will, no doubt about it."

Will smiled, hiding the expression behind a cough when he noticed James had seen. "Yes, she always wants pirate stories at bed time," he muttered. Elizabeth returned from attending to the smaller William, holding the baby out for James to see. Sarah-Anne made a face.

"He's a beautiful child. You must both be very proud," James said. Will and Elizabeth beamed at the compliment, sitting down side by side. "And as for you, Miss Sarah." Shifting her on his lap as he seated himself opposite Jack, James gave the small child a piercing look. "I once knew another little girl who was fascinated by pirates. Do you know what happened to her?"

Sarah-Anne shook her head mutely, eyes wide.

"She was kidnapped. Taken on board the _Black Pearl_ and dragged into a dangerous adventure. Let that be a lesson to you as to what happens to girls who spend all their time thinking about pirates."

"Only if they behave themselves and ask their uncle Jack real nicely," Jack put in. James did not look impressed at the remark.

"Even you're not so lunatic as to take a child out to sea on a pirate ship in the current political climate, Sparrow."

"Well she ain't big enough to appreciate the trip yet anyway, is she? Things'll have died down by then. Always do."

"And if they don't this time?" James countered. Jack sat up properly, aiming a level gaze at him over Sarah-Anne's head.

"Then they don't. All good things, as the saying goes. And then we'll be out of a job, the pair of us. If the world changes and doesn't want pirates any more, where's that leave their hunter?"

Will cleared his throat nervously. "Jack, maybe it would be best -"

"Don't tell me what's best, lad. The Admiral and I are just having a friendly chat, no need to get nervous." Jack's glower vanished as quickly as it had arrived and he smiled broadly. "Might never come to that, anyway, and your wee lass here can have her turn at playing scallywag."

Sarah-Anne, sensing the moment of danger had passed, clapped her hands at the suggestion.

As the afternoon wore on, it started to seem to the hosts of the impromptu party almost as if James and Jack _enjoyed_ sparring verbally with one another. Elizabeth and Will found themselves wishing that they did keep rum in the house, to balm their own frayed nerves.

"Sparrow, stop telling the child such fairy stories. You'll fill her head with nonsense."

"'s not a fairy story. Mermaids are real as you and me, I'll have you know. Seen one or two myself."

"You're a liar."

"Hardly like I've never been accused of that one before, mate. Anyway, bet you would have said there was no such thing as curses, once upon a time."

"Yes, well, if I ever see a mermaid I will concede the point. Until then, I will assume you are lying."

Eventually Sarah-Anne and William began to fidget and fret, ready for their afternoon rest, and Will decided to make this as good an excuse as any to show their guests to the door.

"Righto then," Jack said, and pulled out his pistol. "Admiral, I'll have to ask you to come along quietly, m'afraid."

Will covered his eyes with one hand, shaking his head in despair. " _Jack._ "

"'s all right, Will. We'll just be popping off to the _Pearl_. I won't kidnap him for long, just for the time it takes to get well enough away from the noose."

Elizabeth, having set the children down for their naps, returned from upstairs and surveyed the situation. She made several frantic facial expressions at her husband: _Aren't you going to do something? Can't you concuss them or distract them or at least get out of the way in case they get any stupider? They were only arguing when I left five minutes ago, what on earth did you do?_

Will's own silent replies - _I didn't do anything! What exactly should I be doing, there's a pirate pointing a gun at a naval officer two feet away from me_ \- were amusing enough to make Jack's mouth twitch momentarily out of the grim scowl.

"It's all right, Mr Turner," James said. He was better at schooling his face and voice to suit the situation, and therefore marginally less likely to start laughing than Jack was at that moment. "I'll go along quietly, as the pirate requests."

" _The pirate_ , is it? And here I thought I'd be _Sparrow_ and nothing but forever."

"I'm not the one who considers 'bastard' a greeting, you know," replied James. Jack tilted his head to one side, as if considering the point.

"Hmm. Well, on that note, the pirate and the bastard shall take their leave. Must do this again, tell the kiddies we said our goodbyes. Lovely to see you both, as always. Will, Elizabeth," Jack nodded to each in turn and opened the door. "Until next time."

"Jack, I really don't think it's necessary to take a hostage..." Will said, following them out onto the street. Elizabeth hovered in the doorway, looking less worried than simply annoyed at the antics on display.

"Oh, come inside, Will. Let them kill each other, if that's their intention," she said icily. Reluctantly, Will stepped back inside beside her. Elizabeth's voice was muffled by the door as she closed it. "We _have_ to make new friends."

"I suspect we wore out their hospitality," Jack commented. "Can I put the gun away now, or are you going to make a fuss and try escaping if I do?"

"I do keep my word, you know, even when it's to one such as yourself. I had no intention of arresting you." James pushed the gun aside and gestured for Jack to put it away. "You're too damn theatrical for your own good."

"Never been particularly interested in my own good, if I'm being honest. Which is a rare occasion in itself."Jack draped an arm across his captive's shoulders. "To the _Pearl_ , then?"

"If you insist." Pausing, James let himself smile properly. " _Mermaids_ , Jack? Sarah-Anne is going to grow into a holy terror if you continue with such an education."

"Balance, Admiral, 's all balance. I'm relying on you to temper my influence, as it were. And mermaids are real as I am, I tell you."

James slipped his own arm around Jack's waist in a half-hearted attempt at steering him into a straight line. "That isn't a rousing endorsement of their existence, Jack." Suddenly, strangely, a wave of sadness swept over James' thoughts. He sighed, giving up on guiding their route and following where Jack wandered. "What's to become of us, when the world changes into something new? What's fate got in store?"

Jack made a noise of disgust. "You'll believe in fate but not mermaids? That's an insult to common sense, James Norrington. If there's any irony or justice in the world, you'll end up married to a mermaid for all your doubting."

"Won't she miss the sea?" James' voice had grown softer. He sounded exhausted.

Jack grinned. "Nah. Not if you settle in a port town. Mermaids, they're adaptable."

"I was under the impression they required the ocean to stay alive."

"A myth's a myth, and a truth's a truth, savvy? Real mermaids - which, like the ladybeetle, is a race with boys and girls and all sorts in between - don't _need_ the ocean. They _are_ the ocean, in a way." Jack patted James' shoulder. "You'll understand it one day."

James shook his head, smiling slightly. "I doubt I'll ever really understand a tenth of what you say, Jack."

Jack stopped walking, leaning against a convenient wall with a sage nod. "Well, I hate to mention it, but you are a little dim."

"Am I, now?" James planted his palms either side of Jack's shoulders. "I should have you clapped in irons for that."

"Haven't told me that you missed me, yet."

"Neither have you," James pointed out.

"I don't need to miss me, I'm always where I am," retorted Jack.

When James was quite finished kissing him, Jack pushed himself back off the wall and recommenced walking in the vague direction of the _Pearl_. "Was starting to think you weren't planning on doing that, Admiral."

"I do make a point of keeping one step ahead of what you expect," James answered smugly. Jack rolled his eyes.

The _Black Pearl_ had not changed in any significant way since James had last seen it, and there was a familiarity to the feel of her under his feet which came disturbingly close to a homecoming of sorts. Jack, who could be at home anywhere he found himself, seemed to almost become a part of the ship when he was on deck.

"I should charge you room and board, seeing's how it's actually your turn to have done the catching," Jack said, leading the way in to his cabin. James followed, glad to feel that his earlier melancholy seemed to be gone for the time being. It was hard to worry about the future when Jack was present, in all meanings of that word..

"You're the one who made me promise Elizabeth that there would be no arrests," James pointed out. "Anyway, I don't know how you've managed to keep track of who last captured who. It must be eight months since you were in these waters."

"Nothing like making up for lost time," answered Jack, grinning wickedly in the way only he truly could as he shrugged his shirt off. "Best if we get started."

"Indeed," said James, and for once the pair of them agreed on something.


End file.
